Course will assist families of mentally ill

March 1, 2008|By Rosalind Jennings, Special To The Sentinel

Dealing with a family member who has mental illness can be exasperating.

Help is on the way, in the form of a free 12-week course for families of persons diagnosed with serious mental illness. The National Alliance on Mental Illness series kicks off from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Monday at a LifeStream Behavioral Center building at 404 Webster St. in Leesburg.

"People don't think about mental illness until they have a family member with mental illness," said Dale Austin of Leesburg, who will help teach the course.

The course "balances basic psycho-education and skill-training with emotional support, self-care and empowerment," Austin said. "We hope families with relatives who have a serious mental illness will take advantage" of it.

The course is designed for parents, siblings, spouses, teenage and adult children and significant others of persons with severe and persistent mental illness. It will cover mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The biology of the brain and why persons become mentally ill also will be discussed.

Austin said it's easy for those dealing with a loved one's mental illness to blame themselves. He said caregivers need to learn to maintain their own emotional balance when trying to help someone with a mental illness.

"Someone may ask themselves, 'How do I maintain my balance going through this business?' " said Austin, who will be assisted in teaching the course by health educator Bob Cavanaugh of Summerfield.

This will be Cavanaugh's third time teaching the course.

"I've been around this scene for many years," Cavanaugh said. "That's why I feel strongly about it."

Cavanaugh and Austin are both volunteers. The National Alliance on Mental Illness formed in 1979 and has organizations in every state.

Cavanaugh is also on the advisory board for Northeast Florida State Hospital in Macclenny.

Austin said that when taking medication, those with mental illness often can handle life as easily as other individuals, or even better.

The course also will deal with removing stigma, such as a belief by some that the mentally ill never act normally.

"When people get their illness under control with medication, they can be like you, me and everyone else," Austin said. "They need to find something that works for them."

For more information or to sign up for the course, call 1-800-482-6847.